Onboard edge computation device, associated electronic system and method for executing software applications

Abstract

An edge computation device on board an aircraft is configured for communicating with one or a plurality of onboard electronic devices having certified operation, and with at least one remote computation system. Same includes local computational resources, and is configured for implementing a management module for a plurality of software applications suitable for providing at least one control parameter and/or receiving at least one datum from at least one onboard electronic device, a module for activating the execution of at least one of the stored software applications, a management module for an execution stack, configured for determining, for each software application to be executed, an allocation of local computation resources and, where appropriate, for executing locally a first part of the application, and for requesting remote execution, by means of the remote computation system, of a second part of the application to be executed.

1 . An onboard edge computation device, comprising:
 a first communication interface configured for communicating, according to a first communication protocol, with at least one onboard electronic device with certified operation;   a second radio communication interface, configured for communicating, according to a second radio communication protocol, with a remote computation system located on the ground;   at least one electronic memory unit; and   at least one processor forming local computation resources, the at least one processor configured for implementing:
 a module for managing a plurality of software applications stored in the at least one electronic memory, each software application being suitable for providing at least one control parameter and/or for receiving at least one datum from at least one onboard electronic device with certified operation; 
 a module for activating execution of at least one of the stored software applications, configured for receiving at least one request for execution of at least one software application from an external control device and/or for validating an activation condition for execution of the at least one software application; and 
 a management module for an execution stack, configured for determining, for each software application to be executed, an allocation of local computation resources of the edge computation device, in order to execute all or part of the software application to be executed, and for launching the local execution of the part of the application to be executed, and for requesting, in the case where a first part of the application is executed locally, a remote execution, by the remote computation system, of a second part of the application to be executed, complementary to the first part. 
   
     
     
         2 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the management module for the execution stack implements, for the determination of local computation resources allocated per application to be executed, at least one among: a criterion of availability of computation resources, a criterion of connectivity, a criterion of data protection, and a criterion of priority. 
     
     
         3 . The device according to  claim 1 , configured for dynamically receiving from an external control device at least one parameter of allocation of computational resources and/or of connectivity and/or of priority of execution. 
     
     
         4 . The device according to  claim 1 , further comprising a data and results management module, configured for consolidating and storing results obtained by the execution of each software application, for communicating the results to the external controller and/or to the remote computation system. 
     
     
         5 . The device according to  claim 1 , wherein the module for managing the plurality of software applications is configured for downloading new software applications or an update of a previously stored software application, and/or for deleting a previously stored software application. 
     
     
         6 . An electronic software application execution system comprising:
 an onboard computation system on an aircraft, comprising:
 an edge computation device according to  claim 1 ; and 
 at least one onboard electronic device with certified operation according to an avionics certification standard; and 
   at least one remote computation system located on the ground.   
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 6 , wherein said at least one remote computation system comprises a supervision device, the supervision device including a human-machine interface and being configured for:
 receiving observability signals from said edge computation device, the observability signals comprising data on local computation resources and information on the execution of at least one of the software applications;   calculating a state of operation of said edge computation device and a state of execution of the at least one software application from the received observability signals; and   displaying the state of operation and the state of execution on the human-machine interface.   
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 7 , wherein said edge computation device is configured for:
 recording, during a mission of the aircraft, a set of information in at least one execution report, comprising status and execution information of said edge computation device and of said onboard electronic devices with certified operation, as well as additional information comprising information on the environment and information on connectivity; and   sending the execution report to said supervision device, said supervision device being further configured for executing and displaying on the human-machine interface a replay of the states of said edge computation device and of said at least one onboard electronic device.   
     
     
         9 . A method for executing software applications implemented by an electronic system for executing software applications according to  claim 6 , comprising:
 receiving a command to add/delete a software application, coming from an external control device, or from the ground computation system or from one of the onboard devices;   updating a storage of software applications according to the command received; and   activating the execution of one or a plurality of the stored software applications, based either on the reception of a request to execute at least one software application from an external device, or on the validation of a condition for activation of execution and/or pause or stop of execution of one or a plurality of software applications upon reception of a command or automatic validation of a stop condition.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 managing a stack of applications, implementing, for each software application to be executed, an allocation of local computational resources for executing a first part of the software application, and   in the case where the first part is less than 100%, sending a command to execute a second part of the software application, complementary to the first part, to the remote computation system.   
     
     
         11 . A computer program including software instructions which, when executed by a programmable electronic system, implement a method for executing software applications according to  claim 9 .